Fuel control device or the like



Oct. 31, 1939. J. 5. JOHNSON FUEL CONTROL DEVICE OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 9, 1957 1939 J. 5. JOHNSON FUEL CONTROL DEVICE OR THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9, 1937 2 SheetsSheet 2 15 in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,512,270, dated Octomovable section being suspended from a float 1 burning through the entire grove or orchard. modified form of tank and fuel control device. 5

Patented Get. 31, 1939 a STA PATENT ole 2,178,477

FUEL CONTROL DEVICE OR. THE LIKE James Stanley Johnson, Pasadena, Calif.

Application November 9, 1937, Serial No. 173,716

4 Claims. (01. 137-21) Ihis invention relates to fuel control devices My novel fuel control devices provide an ideal for orchard heaters and the like, and the prinarrangement in that each position of the regcipal object of the invention is to provide a. novel ulating lever of the tube determines a definite fuel control device particularly adapted for use and constant flow of fuel regardless of the level 5 in regulating the amount of fuel supplied to of the fuel in the tank, my invention accom- 5 heaters of the drip type commonly used in plishing this end by providing means for reguheating air and fruit in orange groves or the lating the position of the orifice with respect to like, which type of heaters are provided with the fuel level in the tank rather than with reburners supplied with a small but continuous spect to the bottom of the tank. In my invenflow of oil or liquid fuel without appreciable tion the fuel feed tube has an end passing 1O pressure. As the fuel is quickly consumed in through and mounted rigidly in the wall of the the burners the burning rate may be readily regtank adjacent its bottom, and has a flexible or ulated by merely controlling the flow of fuel. movable section within the tank which is free One form of such drip type heater is disclosed to rise and fall within the tank, said flexible or ber 21, 1924. on the surface of the fuel, and the flexible or The usual method of controlling the flow of movable section being provided adjacent its fuel supplied to such heaters is to allow same upper end with the orifice, so that by regulating to flow through a horizontal rotatable tube passthe relative position of the float with respect 2O ing through a stuffing box in the side of the fuel to the orificed end of the flexible or movable tank and conducting the fuel from the orisection which is suspended from the float, the fice to the burner, said tube being operated by desired purpose can be accomplished in that a a lever disposed exteriorly of the tank, and havconstant head of fuel will be maintained above ing a lateral extension within the tank provided the orifice regardless of the level of fuel in the at its end with an orifice of small size with retank. 25 spect to the diameter of the tube so that the Other minor objects will be hereinafter set tube is never full and there is never any appreforth. ciable suction below the orifice. Rotation of the I will explain the invention with reference to tube will adjust the height of the orifice with the accompanying drawngs which illustrate sevrespect to the bottom of the container. Under eral practical embodiments thereof to enable 30 this method however the flow of fuel is proporothers to adopt and use the same; and will sumtioned to the head of fuel above the orifice, which marize in the claims the novel features of conhead is regulated by adjusting the position of the struction, and novel combinations of parts, for

lateral extension. which protection is desired. One marked disadvantage under the above In said drawings- 35 feed control method is, that as the fuel level Fig 1 is a, vertical sectional view of a convendrops in the fuel tank the headnecessarily tional orchard heater embodying one form of my changes and the rate of fuel flow through the novel fuel control device in the fuel tank thereorifice decreases, and therefore it is necessary 01 40 to re-set the position of the orifice at short time Fig 2 is an end elevation of the fuel tank 40 intervals, usually each hour or two. Another dis- Shown in Fig 1 howing th lever for adjustadvantage is, that inasmuch as the amount of in the Orifice i respect to the float fuel generally differs materially between the dif- 1 t k ferent fuel tanks of the heaters in a grove, the 9 15 t ver.lcaltsec.lona x e an tubes or adjusting levers attached thereto can- Shown m 1 luujs mung mom ed form of not all be set in the same relative position to thejuel Pontrol devlcegive the same burning rate in all the heaters, f an f elevation of the a shown and therefore in order to properly set each heater m 3 lnustratmg the lever r angementto desired burning rate it is necessary to first 5 is a View Similar to 3 ng a determine the level of the fuel in the tank which further modified fuel control device in the fuel 50 necessitates removal of the tank cover, an optank.

eratio-n particularly troublesome when the heat- 6 is a Partial Vertical Section Showing a ers are first being lighted, and when considerfu ther modified fuel control device. able haste is essential in starting all the heaters Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a still further Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a further modified form of fuel control device.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the float and adjacent portion of the tube shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail sectional View of the orificed end of the tube.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the orchard heater H is of conventional form, the same having a burner H, and a fuel reservoir H2 therein adjacent its lower end supplied through tube I with fuel from a fuel tank T disposed beside the heater, suitable control devices being provided for regulating the flow of fuel from tank T to the burner H.

Fuel tube I passes through a wall of the tank T adjacent its lower end and leads to the reservoir H2 of heater H, and has within the tank a flexible or movable section 2 connected with the end of tube I by a flexible connection 3, which may be a length of rubber hose, or may be a section of expanded flexible metal tubing, the sides of which are corrugated in the form of a bellows, or may be a pivotable joint allowing the movable section 2 to rotate on a horizontal axis so that the orifice 2a therein (Fig. 10) may be raised or lowered with respect to the surface of the fuel, the movable Section 2 being adapted to rise and fall within tank T, and its outer end being offset or curved upwardly, as at 2:10 (Fig. 10). Orifice 2a is of relatively smaller diameter than that of tube 2 so that the fuel will feed drop by drop or in a very small or restricted flow into the section, thereby eliminating suction such as would be set up in case the tube were filled with fuel. If desired a screen (not shown) could be placed over the orifice.

Pivoted on the movable section 2 adjacent its free end is a bell crank lever 4, to one arm of which a float 6 is secured by rod or wire connected to its underside, the float supporting the free end of movable section 2 in a position of definite relation with respect to the level of fluid in tank I. Float 6 may be either of buoyant material or may be hollow, and either a single float or a plurality of floats may be used.

Float 6 is adjustably mounted with respect to movable section 2 in order to adjust the elevation of the orifice 2a in order to bring same above, at, or below, the level of the liquid fuel in tank T. In Figs. 1 and 2 the relative position of the float 6 and orifice 2a is adjusted by a system of levers operated by an adjusting handle 13 on the exterior of the tank. In said figures the other leg of bell crank lever 4 is connected by a Wire or rod I to one leg of a. bell crank lever B pivoted on a bracket 9 mounted upon a side wall of the tank, the other leg of bell crank lever B being connected by a rod or wire III to an arm I I mounted on a bolt I2 extending through the side wall of the tank above the bracket 9, said bolt l2 carrying a lever I3 on the exterior of the tank, whereby as hand lever I3 is rotated the rod it will be raised or lowered to adjust the float through the systems of rods I--5 and bell crank levers 8-4 with respect to the orifice 2a of movable section 2. Lever I3 is show in full lines in such position that the fuel would not enter the orifice 21!. By rotating the handle I3 in a counterclockwise direction the rod 1 will be shifted to pivot the bell crank lever into the position shown in dotted lines and thus lower the section 2 with respect to float 6, so as to adjust the orifice 2a below the surface of the fuel and cause the fuel to start flowing into orifice 2a. Rod I is disposed substantially parallel with the axis of section 2 so that movement of the rod will not appreciably affect the position or angularity of the section which will remain in substantially the same relative position when the float is being adjusted.

Lever I3 and arm II can be mounted near the top edge of the container, and same do not reduce the container capacity for any practical pur-- poses. It should be understood, however, that packing can be introduced at this point if desired, and that lever I3 and arm I I need not be mounted at any specific point in the tank.

By placing the handle I3 on the exterior of the tank T it is made possible to provide the tank with the usual cover (not shown) Without interference with the system of levers. Motion can be transmitted from lever I3 to arm II by any one of several methods, such as by using a square bolt I2 to connect the two. Spring washers on the bolt (not shown) may be provided to afford ample frictional resistance to hold the mechanism at any desired setting.

In Figs. 3 and 4 a modified form of fuel control means is shown, said means adjusting the movable section 2 with respect to float 6, the movable section 2 being connected by a flexible connection 3 as in Fig. 1. In this modification, bolt I2 carries the hand lever I3 and also the arm I I, as in Figs. 1 and 2. A light chain or other flexible medium I4 has one end attached to the float 6, the chain passing through the several eyes I5, and thence to lever arm I I connected with the adjusting handle I3. Since the chain I4 is disposed for the major part of its length along the section 2 axial movement of the chain will not appreciably disturb the position or angularity of section 2 when the float is being adjusted.

Fig. 5 shows a further modification of the fuel control shown in Fig. 3. One end of the flexible medium I4 is attached to the outer end portion of movable section 2 and then passes through the eyes I5 to the adjusting lever II, the medium I4 passing through an eye in the bottom of the float 6.

In Fig. 6 a further modification is shown which is somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 5. In the modification the medium I4 is connected to the underside of the float 6, which latter is connected either rigidly or pivotally as at 6a to a rigid arm 612 whose opposite end is pivoted or flexibly mounted as at 60 to the outer end of section 2, so that as lever I3 is adjusted the member 6b carrying float 5 will merely swing in an are about the point 60.

Fig. 7 shows the fuel control assembly mounted diagonally within a rectangular tank T. This arrangement presents the advantage that the corner T formed between adjacent side walls of the tank prevents the movable section 2 from swinging to any great extent laterally from side to side, and holds the assembly in proper alignment, which feature is valuable especially when using a flexible tube section 3 of material which takes a permanent set when maintained flexed beyond a certain angle.

The position of the orifice 2a with respect to the float 6 does not have to be as shown in Figs. 1 7. The orifice 2a may be disposed in a laterally offset portion Zm at the side of float 6 as shown in Figs. 8-9, or disposed in any other desired position.

In each of the modifications above disclosed the float adjusting means, whether involving the system of levers shown in Figs. 1-2 or involving the chain or other flexible medium shown in Figs. 3-9, comprises mechanism whose functioning depends upon translation of one or more of the members, or parts of one or more members, in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the movable section 2 of the tube in which the orifice 2a is mounted, or upon such translation combined with rotation in a plane determined by the member 2 and said other member or members.

My novel fuel control is not restricted to use only in connection with heaters such as shown in the drawings, for obviously same may be used in connection with any heater operating on the drip principle.

I claim:

1. In a fuel tank, a conduit extending into the lower end thereof, a rigid tube registering with and swingably connected with the conduit within the tank and having a restricted orifice adjacent its free end; a float Within the tank for supporting the free end of the tube; a hand lever mounted on the exterior of the tank; an arm on said lever within the tank; and a flexible member connecting the float and arm and having a portion extending through guides along the inner end of the conduit and along the tube, whereby operation of the handle will vertically adjust the float with respect to the free end of the tube while minimizing any tendency of the pull on the flexible member to swing the tube.

2. In a fuel tank as set forth in claim 1, said tank being rectangular in plan, and said tube extending diagonally thereof and terminating adjacent a corner formed between meeting walls of the tank, thereby preventing abnormal lateral swinging movements of the tube.

3. In a fuel tank as set forth in claim 1, said float being pivotally connected with the tube adjacent its free end.

4. In a fuel tank as set forth in claim 1, said flexible member being connected to the tube adjacent its free end, and having a portion extending through a guide on the float.

JAMES STANLEY JOHNSON. 

